EDO5617 - Middle Fairfield, Dorchester; evaluation 2009

The evaluation consisted of seven machine-excavated trenches to a total of 156 square metres, and equalling 2% sample of the site. Trench 1 measured 9m by 1.6m, trenches 2-6 measured 19.5m by 1.6m, and trench 7 measured 10.5m by 1.6 m. Tarmac was cut and removed by machine, and machine excavation continued through the underlying layers using a 1.6m wide toothless grading bucket. All deposits and archaeological features were sampled by manual excavation to establish stratigraphic relationships. Trench 2 revealed various Roman features including three ditches, a wall foundation, a posthole, and three graves. Two of the graves contained disarticulated human skulls, while one of these also contained a skeletal burial. No skeletal material was recovered from the third grave. These burials are part of a larger inhumation cemetery along the Roman road following the line of Weymouth Avenue, and the wall foundation nearby may be the remains of a mausoleum. A ditch running approximately 10m to the west of and parallel to Weymouth Avenue appeared to be the continuation of a Roman roadside ditch recorded during excavations to the north. A number of other ditches were recorded. These were interpreted as probable field boundaries associated with later agricultural activity. A large cut in Trench 6 extended beyond the limits of the excavation, and was thought probably to represent an episode of 19th-century chalk quarrying.